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Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) president and CEO, Patrick Criteser, has announced that he will step down later this year. TCCA’s board of directors has selected the company’s current EVP of brand growth and commercialisation, David Booth, to succeed Criteser as president and CEO. This decision is aligned with the dairy business’ long-standing succession plan. Criteser steps down after more than a decade in the role, having led the farmer-owned cooperative since 2012. He will remain CEO until later this year, while Booth will immediately assume the role of president. Working closely with the TCCA board and executive leadership team, they will implement a ‘thoughtful’ transition plan aiming to ensure business continuity and success. Booth will then take on the full president and CEO role following Criteser’s departure. In a statement announcing the news, Criteser said that the company’s vision of becoming a “premium, multi-category, national dairy brand has been realised, and the cooperative is optimally positioned to thrive well into the future”. He added: “I have accomplished what I hoped to achieve for the farmer-owners of this amazing cooperative, so I've decided that the time is right for this transition. Serving in this role has been the greatest honour of my professional career, and I am absolutely certain that our board has chosen the right person to succeed me in David.” Since joining TCCA in 2015, Booth has been responsible for sales, marketing and category growth, forging partnerships with retailers across the US and crafting Tillamook’s growth strategy. His experience across the company includes having served as interim CFO on two occasions, while his near-30-year executive experience includes 18 years at ConAgra Foods. Shannon Lourenzo, chair of TCCA’s board, commented: “We are so grateful for Patrick's incredible leadership these past 12 years. Today, we are a $1.3 billion business, and one in four American households buy Tillamook cheese, ice cream and other dairy products. But we're just getting started.” “David is a very talented leader and is someone who is well-equipped to continue the cooperative's growth, which will further strengthen our farmer-owners, create more jobs and advancement opportunities for our employees, and enable us to continue to positively impact the communities where we live and work.”